Last weekend, on the 22nd and 23rd of September, Just Whisky Hamburg took place again in my hometown, bringing lots and lots of whisky craze to the place. Unlike the kick-off event last year, the fair’s second installment was no longer held in the district of Harburg. Instead, it was moved to Wilhemsburg, whose Community Center proved to be an ideal venue for a mid-sized dramming event like this. On the one hand, the place was pretty easy to reach with busses arriving and leaving right infront of it every few minutes. On the other hand, the interior was well-suited with wide aisles, good lighting, pleasant tempering, and all. Fingers crossed that Just Whisky Hamburg will stay there in the future, too – I really liked the new location!

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When I set foot into the hall, my first destination was the booth of Rising Brands (formerly known as Bremer Spirituosen Contor Exklusivmarken). There, I said “Hi!” to Brand Ambassadors Detlef and Nils, who had brought along a nice selection of bottles from Säntis Malt in Switzerland and Douglas Laing in Scotland. I started with a wee dram of Säntis’ next Snow White bottling, which is launched a few days ago but was yet-to-be-unveiled when the fair took place. Finished in a Williams Pear cask, it was rich was pastry, toffee, and all kinds of garden fruits. No doubt: The Swiss whisky makers once again did a fantastic job here! The same can be said about Douglas Laing, whose latest releases in the Remarkable Regional Malts range totally pleased me, too! Among others, I tried the two recently released Winter Editions from Big Peat and Scallywag, both of which are partly sherry-matured and both of which totally rock. In the end, however, I did not buy one of those, but another bottle on the table: the lavish and luxurious Timorous Beastie “Cheese Cellar Edition” with a Port Finish. What can I say? I just love that little mouse from the Highlands so very much!

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At the Schlumberger stand, I focused on new bottling by one of my all-time favorite Scotch distilleries, namely Benromach from Speyside. The drams I tried included two single casks with Polish Oak and Sherry Cask maturations as well as this year’s Cask Strength – Batch 1. The latter is 10 years old and vatted from ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks. With an ABV of 59.7 per cent, it packs a good punch. And with an intriguing flavor profile centering around cooked fruits, crumbled cookies, burnt pudding, sizzling twigs, and grease-laden barbecue smoke, it offered all I hope to find in a Benromach – so once I had emptied my glass, I took out my wallet and bought a bottle to make sure I could get a refill at home again and again and again.

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Off to Ireland. Like last year, I again frequented the Irish Whiskeys booth several times. There, I talked to my old pal Thorsten and his companion Adam from Fercullen Whiskey over lotsa fine drams. From Fercullen I had the luxurious 18 Years Old (vatted from malts sourced elsewhere) and the delicious Single Malt Irish Whiskey (produced by Fercullen themselves). And from the other bottles on the tables, I had two or three more, one of which I purchased afterwards: Bill Phil 7yo Marsala from the Peated Series by W. D. O’Connell. This one was pretty insane, with a unique mix of fruity, oily, greasy, woody, eathery, and smokey notes!

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At the stall of Prineus GmbH I spent so much time that I need two paragraphs rather than one to cover all the whiskies I tried there! The first brand from the Prineus roster that I would like to talk about is Lindores Abbey Distillery based in the Scottish Lowlands. At Just Whisky Hamburg 2023, they were – as often in recent times – represented by their Cask Custodian Elliot. Among others, he brought along a Germany Exclusive matured in a Ruby Port cask, an all-new release matured in a classic ex-Bourbon cask, and a smoky expression that got its immense peatiness solely from the ex-Islay cask in which it was kept. To be honest, I could not pick a favorite from these three; they were all utterly fantastic!

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Another highlight presented by Prineus: the first-ever trio of single casks from India-based Indri Whisky. From the three high-percentage drams, I skipped the 5-year-old (though I heard it was amazing) and sipped the two 7-year-olds. One of them had an ex-Bourbon maturation, while the other had a Red Wine maturation. Both absolutely impressed me with Indri’s one-of-a-kind fruitiness that already made me fall in love with the standard edition – only that here the tropical fruit salat notes were amplified at least by the factor of two or three! Other than that, I was extra-intrigued by the Dram Mor bottles on the table, too. And by the Fable Whisky and Compass Box ones.

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Although Just Whisky Hamburg is not the biggest fair in town, its top-drawer line-up made sure that there were more exciting drams available than one could try in one or two days. And thus the whiskies mentioned above weren’t the only ones I had in the course of this two-day dramathon. From Whisky Warehouse No. 8 I sipped and bought an independently bottled GlenAllachie 10 Years Old from a Dark Sherry cask, which was bottled on my birthday this year. And at Loch Lomond I had a nice talk with Brand Ambassador Sebastian over delish sips of the distillery’s latest two Germany Exclusives. The first was a “faux-grain” made entirely from malted barley, but distilled on a Coffee Still. And the second was a Mizunara-finished Scotch sold for under 40 Euro per bottle! I could not think of many other distilleries that would be able to make you such offers!

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The last two drams I want to feature here were recommended to me by my friend Aaron, who runs the Drams United blog, and his wife Nicole. At the SMWS booth, they suggested I tried a bottling that had blown them away at a tasting earlier in the year: a 15-year-old Mannochmore from an ex-Sauternes barrique called “A bit too French for its own good!”. One sip in and I totally understood why this lavish, opulent pour left such a lasting impression on the two! The other recommendation they had for me was Palatinatus Whisky by Destillerie Thomas Sippel from the South-West of Germany. Aaron and Nicole had just visited the production site a couple of weeks ago, and they had the best of times there due to the hospitality of the owner and the quality of his whisky. After drinking two single casks at the booth – one matured in a Bordeaux cask and the other matured in a Muskateller cask – I was fully convinced, too. These were, without a doubt, two more highlights I had at a though-and-through fantastic show. When Just Whisky Hamburg returns in 2024, I will surely be there again. But first things first, ’cause in the weeks and months to come, I will now enjoy the heck outta the four bottles I bought in 2023!

by Tobi

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Just Whisky Hamburg @ Web: https://www.just-whisky-hamburg.de/ (Fair)
Just Whisky Hamburg @ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justwhiskyhamburg/ (Fair)

***I got my tickets for free from Rising Brands. While attending
the fair, I paid for some drams and got some freebies, too. ***